Man guilty of pouring boiling water on pregnant girlfriend
The jury took over three hours to reach their verdict at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. The accused man did not give evidence but he told gardaí it was only a small amount of water that accidentally fell and he blamed a slope in the room. This was in stark contrast to the description of violence given by the victim.
Judge David Riordan remanded Michael Lynch, 24, in custody until Tuesday June 7 for sentencing.
He was found not guilty yesterday of threatening to kill Tara Byrd but guilty of assault causing harm to her on July 21 last at 184 Old Youghal Road, Cork, where they were living at the time.
Tara Byrd, 25, testified: “He said he was going to boil a kettle of water with sugar in it and pour the sugar water on me. He put the sugar in the kettle and boiled it. He said if I screamed he would hit me over the head with an iron bar.
“I was wearing pyjama pants. He threw the kettle over my left leg (from top of foot to below knee). I was in agony. I did not scream. I was shaking with agony.
“He put a white T-shirt over my leg and he started pouring constant cold water and ice over my leg. I told Michael I needed to go to hospital. He said there is nothing they can do that I’m already doing.
“I was there all night in that constant… in agony all night.
“He told me if he found me cheating he would kill me and bury me in the woods. I believed him because of what he was after doing to me.”
Gareth Fleming, defence barrister, said the complainant admitted saying on her admission to hospital that it happened accidentally. She said she told this lie because she was in fear of Michael Lynch and that he had also told her that he would damage the homes of her friends and family.
Michael Lynch opted not to give any evidence. He told about half a cup of boiling water fell on her leg.
Last month, another jury was unable to reach a decision in the case and this necessitated yesterday’s retrial.
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